it's official: i'm an embarrassment

to say this was a big week in the savvy abode might be a bit of an understatement.

a rather large understatement, in fact.

let's see.

mom started a new job on Monday.

(kind of. day one was working on the Columbus Welcome Event, so it kind of didn't count.)

anth started 3rd grade at his new school on Tuesday.

and benny started kindergarten on Wednesday.

how much can one heart take?

fortunately, all went swimmingly. . .

per usual, i didn't grab my good camera. 

at least i'm consistent. 

?.

we had no idea how morning drop-off worked, other than that they lined up by teacher behind the school. 

fortunately the herds of parents who knew what were doing guided the way. . .

 

the moment we found anth's line, things changed. 

he instantly stopped talking to us. 

i, of course, realized what was happening and backed away. 

i'm sad to say, friends, it's official...i am now uncool for him to hang out with in public. 

i enjoy this picture a great deal. 

because it was after we realized we were uncool. 

i'm standing on the sidelines. 

bernie is still in the mix, messing with our oldest child.  

look at bernie's grin. 

and anth's "i'm not making eye contact" pose. 

gems.

when bern did step away, this was what we saw the rest of the time.
he didn't even look back when they filed into school.

(note: there are other parents in line. parents are just particularly uncool as the "new kid.")

grandpa savarese joined us that morning.

he knew where to be. 

about 50 feet away on the playground. 

i am sure anth appreciated his sensibility here. 

then, because it was my first real day on the job, these showed up later that afternoon. 

bless bernie's thoughtful heart.

that evening, we took anth for graeter's ice cream to celebrate his big day. 

fact: he held my hand on the way in. 

all is not lost. 

benny on his way in to his last day of pre-school

The last day of pre-school also happened to be jammie day. 

benny.

loves. 

jammie day. 

 

this is benny with one of his besties on jammie day. 

the kids also had the very special treat of watching Finding Nemo in celebration of all the great work they did to fill up their Sea of Kindness bulletin board. 

my favorite? 

apparently benny and izayah cleaned the lego table.

with a toothbrush.

it's amazing the double life he leads while at preschool. . .

and here we are on our way in to kindergarten. 

you will note that benny has his fingers in his ears. 

this was the exact moment when benny got tired of mom and dad telling him how excited and proud they were. . .

i tried to get a picture of him walking to his classroom. 

but he bolted once the door opened and ran the whole way there. 

he is a little excited about kindergarten.

here he is in front of what he calls "all those bones."

i asked him to chill out and take a nice picture. 

like i said. . .

kind of excited. 

then anth took him for a tour of his old stomping grounds. 

this picture is ridiculously blurry, but how sweet are they?

anth spent a particularly long time showing benny the art space, as this was his favorite. . . 

yes, those are sharpees. 

teachers, beware. 

i tried to get one last good shot of the boys.

this is the best one. 

of, like, 10. 

neat.

(note: benny came home and reported to Dad, "i didn't read today." i am fairly certain that my parents heard a similar comment back in the day...)

so, here we are back on tuesday. . .

two semi-normal smiles = a minor miracle these days. 

suffice it to say, this has been a long, but very exciting week. 

the boys are starting new journeys that i feel conflicted about. 

i am excited for them. 

they will learn and grow and make new friends. 

but, each new-school-year-milestone seems to come faster than the last and they are just growing up so quickly. . . 

it was a big week for me, too.

and, as with any major life transition, i have some amazing friends who have listened, advised, grounded and lifted me up through the process. 

i saw this recently, (from the lovely Kelly Rae Roberts, of course), and thought of you. 

you know who you are. . .

here's to an amazing year ahead. 
(yes, i think more in school years than i do calendar. i've lived in them most of my adult life.)
here's to all of us getting to the next milestone with many cherished memories. 
especially all of those beautiful day-to-day ones that sneak right past us if we let them. . .